Painesville First Church of Christ

Painesville First Church of Christ Leading People In Their Next Step With Jesus

09/06/2026

Welcome! Join us for Praise and Worship!!

08/30/2026

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08/23/2026

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08/16/2026

Welcome. Join us for Praise and Worship!

07/26/2026

For June’s session of Gaming on a Sunday Afternoon, our monthly virtue was Respect.

We can have respect for many things - the vastness of the ocean as we peer out from the beach, the beauty of a city like Paris or Rome, and the precision and athleticism of a quarterback who finds his receiver in the endzone.

Mostly though, we focused on how respect pertains to our relationships with others. We define it as appropriately recognizing the value of others.

Respect, like each of our virtues, is the balance between two extremes. If you are deficient in respect, you disrespect - where you show a lack of regard, esteem or courtesy for someone.

Conversely, if you excessively respect, you idolize - you give someone more honor, more esteem than they deserve.

Probably one of the most taboo subjects to talk about at a social gathering is politics. And I made it two and a half years without bringing it here, but disrespect runs rampant through politics. It starts with disagreement - which is good, that’s supposed to happen. But especially since so many of us are behind screens and keyboards, that can quickly turn into dismissal.

They’re idiots
They’re evil
They’re destroying the country
They’re brainwashed
Why can’t they just use common sense?

That’s a hard road to come back from. But when we remember their humanity, that is how we turn the tide. We go from “how the heck does someone possibly believe that?” to “What life experiences did they go through to come to that conclusion?” That’s when we start to see the whole person. They’re made in the image of God, just like us. And if we're honest, we're all capable of making poor decisions under the right circumstances.

When I was growing up, professional athletes were my heroes. I idolized them. And as a kid, I measured greatness by who could throw the farthest, run the fastest, or score the most points. And in that regard, those men were like Gods.

But to come back from idolization is the same as disrespect - you remember their humanity. Media often helps us with this. Later on scandals break out - the affairs, the cheating, the doping, etc. Sometimes it’s a complete fall from grace. But we start to see more of the whole person. We can still admire them for their talents, but we no longer put them on a pedestal.

Respect is seeing people as they really are.
Every person has strengths worth appreciating.
Every person has flaws that remind us they're human.
Every person has value because they're made in the image of God.

See you tomorrow for our July session!

05/21/2026

Integrity is the alignment of your values with your words and actions.

In previous discussions, we described it as “talking the talk AND walking the walk,” or practicing what you preach. In other words: you do what you say you do.

Like all virtues, integrity exists between two extremes.

If you are deficient in integrity, you compromise your values. You’re willing to take shortcuts, bend, or even abandon your principles under pressure.

If you are excessive in integrity, you become self-righteous. You overcommit to your values without balance, humility, or wisdom.

At our last gaming session, we illustrated integrity and its extremes using Disney characters.

For compromise, let’s look at Aladdin.

Aladdin was a thief, but not a bad person. He shared what little he had, helped others, and generally tried to do good. But then he fell in love with Princess Jasmine, and because of the enormous status gap between them, he felt pressure to bridge it.

So how does he do it?

By lying his pants off.

He becomes “Prince Ali.” We all know the song. But he quickly learns how exhausting it is to maintain appearances, and how difficult it is to form a genuine relationship with someone while constantly deceiving them.

Eventually, Aladdin returns to integrity. When given the opportunity to hold onto power and status, he instead chooses honesty and uses his final wish to free Genie, as promised.

The Huntsman from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was also nominated by the group as someone who initially compromised his values before ultimately rejecting evil.

For self-righteousness, let’s look at Queen Elinor from Brave.

By all accounts, Elinor was a respected and responsible queen. She valued order, tradition, discipline, and duty, and she took those responsibilities seriously. The problem was that she tried to force those same expectations onto her daughter, Merida, who completely rejected them.

What’s interesting is that Elinor wasn’t evil, careless, or immoral. In many ways, she was trying to do the right thing. But her values became rigid. She stopped seeing Merida as an individual and instead saw her as someone who needed to fit into a structure.

Then comes the curse.

Funny thing about becoming a bear: Elinor suddenly loses control over her situation and becomes completely dependent on her daughter. But at the same time, she gains perspective. She finally sees the courageous, capable young woman Merida is becoming, and realizes that forcing her down a predetermined path wasn’t preparing her for life - it was stifling her growth.

We would all be lucky to find a genie in a lamp or be transformed into a bear so we could clearly see the errors in our ways, but unfortunately we usually have to recognize our drift ourselves.

Abuela Alma was another nomination from the group representing self-righteous rigidity.

As for characters who consistently demonstrated integrity, some nominations included Mufasa, Robin Hood, Yoda, Belle, and Tiana - characters who, despite pressure and temptation, largely remained aligned with who they were and what they believed.

Identify your values. Align your words and actions with them as best you can. But remember: values are meant to provide structure and foster growth - not become excuses for compromise or tools for control.

04/10/2026

March’s virtue was Humility - what we describe as “seeing yourself truthfully”, referring to your strengths, your flaws, and everything in between.

Think about it - In January we create the resolutions, February we put them into action, and March is the reality check - maybe our resolutions are slipping, or our habits are inconsistent.

We become more aware of our limitations, hence humility.

Like all of our virtues, humility is a balance between two extremes. On one side we have Arrogance - the excessive sense of superiority within ourselves causing us to overestimate our strengths and underestimate our weaknesses. On the other side we have Self Degradation - the negative thoughts we have about ourselves.

The Apostle Peter is a man from the Bible who exhibits humility and its extremes. He starts out as a fisherman. In Luke chapter 5, after Jesus preaches from Peter’s boat and asks him to cast his net one more time. Peter says “Master, we’ve been working all night and haven’t caught anything, but because you say so, I will lay down the nets.” As a result, he caught more fish than his nets could carry. At the sight of this, Peter falls to his knees and says “Go away from me Lord, I am a sinful man”. Jesus replied “Do not be afraid, from now on you will be a fisher of men.”

How does Peter represent humility here?
-Blind obedience - Peter was probably pretty confident that there was no fish in the water, but out of trust and respect to his master, he laid down the nets anyway.
-His posturing and his honesty - Peter acknowledges his faults when he says he is a sinful man. It was like an instant reality check of who Jesus was in comparison to him.

But Peter was also arrogant. During the final passover meal, Jesus tells his Apostles that they will all fall away from him. Peter responds by saying even if all the others would fall away from Jesus, he never would. Jesus responds by telling Peter, “You will deny me three times before the rooster crows. And Peter insists, “Even if I have to die for you, I will never disown you.”

How does Peter represent arrogance here?
-He is overconfident in himself.
-He considers himself superior to the other disciples.
-He underestimates the power of fear and temptation.

We return from arrogance to humility when we see ourselves truthfully again.

While in the courtyard, after Jesus’ arrest, Peter is identified as being associated with Him. Peter denies his association 3 separate times and as he hears the rooster crow, the cold harsh truth soaks back into him.
-Maybe I’m not as brave as I thought
-It turns out I do fall away
-It turns out I do disown you

Let’s talk about self degradation - this is thinking negatively about yourself and belittling yourself

Now the Gospels say that Peter weeps, but they don’t go into great detail on him degrading himself. But imagine you meet the messiah, the savior of the world, the one you said you’d never fall away from, the one you’d die for, and when push comes to shove, you’re like “nope never met the guy”. I can only imagine the amount of disappointment and self loathing I would feel after such a moment.

At the end of John’s gospel, after the resurrection, Peter returns to the life of a fisherman after Jesus’ death. This suggests that Peter no longer felt worthy of doing Jesus’ work - to be a “fisher of men”. On the shore Jesus calls for them to cast their net on the other side, and much like their story began, they caught many fish. Peter jumps in the water and swims to him, and the other men follow in the boat. On the shore Jesus asks Peter 3 times if he loves him. And each time Peter replied that he did. Jesus replied back, “Then feed my sheep.”

This is a powerful moment because Jesus is restoring Peter’s purpose here. By bearing responsibility Peter pulls himself out of self degradation and back into humility.

Responsibility reminds us that we are a part of something greater than ourselves, and that we still have the ability to contribute.

So remember:
Arrogance says, “I won’t fail.”
Self degradation says, “I’m a failure.”
Humility says, “I failed, but I still have work to do.”

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422 Mentor Avenue
Painesville, OH
44077

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